Southern California -- this just in

Lawrence Phillips says sorry, gets 10 years

October 3, 2008 | 2:38
pm

Troubled former pro football player Lawrence Phillips, who has had more than his share of run-ins with the law, was sentenced today to 10 years in prison. The sentence for Phillips, who grew up in Los Angeles and went to Baldwin Park High School, was handed down after he made a public apology. Details from City News Service:

Former professional football player Lawrence Phillips has been sentenced to 10 years in state prison for driving a car at a group of boys and young men after a pickup football game near the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, hitting three of them. Phillips -- who was convicted in October 2006 of seven felony counts of assault with a deadly weapon -- apologized to one of the victims, who was in court, and said he takes “full responsibility” for what he did.

According to AP: "Phillips was once one of the nation’s top college football players. The St. Louis Rams released him for insubordination in 1997 and he went on to play for a number of teams."